The night was airy, and far from silent as the music from the square vibrated through the air.
Hundreds of wolves gathered, in celebration for the night's festivities.
The air was vibrating with an energy that made it feel as if the moon was crafting a special story for the night.
Laughter and murmurs of chats echoed through the square.
The full moon shone so brightly that every shadow looked deeper and darker than normal. Like they had a life of their own tonight.
The smell of roasted meat and burning sage filled the square, but under it was another scent, fear. It was sharp and cold, and it clung to the air like a mist.
The night made some wolves nervous while others were anticipating the show.
Away from the noise and festivities at the square, where the light of the bonfire could not reach, Elaine stood alone at the edge of the training grounds.
Her hands were pressed against her stomach, trying to calm the shaking inside her. She took a breath, but it caught halfway in her throat. Her lungs felt like they were scared to work, as if even her own body wanted to run.
Tonight was not just her eighteenth birthday.
Tonight was the Full Moon Mating Ceremony. It was the one night a year when the moon goddess revealed soul mates for all wolves of age in all of wolfland, not just her pack village, Mooncrest.
Every wolf of age would stand under the moon, and fate would send a thread of light from their heart to the one they were tied to forever.
For females they had to be eighteen years of age and for males, twenty one.
But for Elaine, it was more than a ceremony. Tonight, something hidden would be revealed. Something written in prophecy before she was born. Something her father and her pack and hidden since she was born.
Her fingers ruffled though her hair, feeling the strands and coils.
The brown dye she used to hide her golden hair was starting to weaken under the moonlight. A faint shimmer of gold glowed at the roots. And after tonight there might not be a reason to retouch the dye hiding her destiny from the Wolves of Wolfland.
Her knees trembled, and she held onto the stone archway beside her to keep from falling.
You cannot break. Not tonight.
She closed her eyes for a moment, forcing a breath through her lips.
A deep, powerful voice came behind her.
"The birthday girl should be at the party."
Elaine turned.
Alpha King Arthur, her father, stood at the entrance of the training grounds.
His presence changed everything around him. Even the night air seemed to pause.
He was tall and strong, his shoulders broad, his dark hair cut short. His eyes were cold silver, not from age but from battles no other wolf could survive.
To every wolf in Wolfland, he was their king. Their warrior. Their defender.
To Elaine, he was her father.
"I just needed a moment," she said quietly.
Arthur's footsteps were heavy and steady as he walked toward her. When he reached her, some of her fear eased. Just being near him made her feel less alone. He placed his warm hands on her. shoulders, grounding her.
"I know," he said softly. "You have carried this fate since the day you were born. No wolf should bear such a burden. But tonight, everything begins to change."
Elaine's eyes were heavy, filled with tears she refused to let fall. "What if the prophecy is wrong about me? What if I'm not who they think I am?"
Arthur brushed some strands of her hair that fell to her face back. His thumb rested against her cheek with gentle strength.
"You are Elaine of the Mooncrest Pack," he said. "My daughter. The moon goddess chose you not because you are perfect, but because you are strong enough to rise."
"But everyone believes I will save them," Elaine whispered. "What if I fail?"
Arthur's voice softened, though his eyes remained steady. "Then we will fall together. But I do not believe that will happen. You were born with fire in your blood. You will not fail, because you cannot."
Elaine's breathing slowed a little. The warmth of his hand was steady. Real.
He looked up at the full moon. "It's time."
Elaine turned to face the square. The moon hung high above it, full and glowing like a silver crown in the dark sky. The night seemed to hold its breath.
Her feet moved slowly at first, then with growing strength, as she walked side by side with her father toward the ceremony that would decide her fate forever.
The square was bright from the light of the bonfire in the middle with its flames tall trying to reach the night sky.
Wolves dressed in their ceremonial attires stood around long tables filled with food and wine. Children ran between the adults, their laughter short and nervous.
The air was thick with emotions; joy, fear, hope. Every pair of eyes turned as Elaine entered.
"There she is."
"The princess."
"The prophecy child."
"Happy birthday, Princess Elaine!"
Applause moved across the square like a wave. Elaine tried to smile, but her heart beat painfully in her chest. Every step she took felt like she was walking toward something she could not escape.
Arthur led her to the raised ceremonial platform. He took his place at the high table, and she sat at his right. Beneath the table, she reached for his hand. He squeezed her fingers softly.
I am here, his touch said.
A tall priest in silver robes stepped forward. Symbols of the moon goddess shone on his sleeves.
"Tonight," the priest said, his voice echoing through magic, "we stand under the eye of the moon goddess. Tonight, the fated bonds will be revealed, and wolves of age shall find their soulmates."
Cheers rose from the crowd. Some wolves straightened in excitement. Others trembled, uncertain.
Elaine's heart pounded.
"They will see the thread of fate," the priest continued, "and must choose—accept the bond and join in eternal unity, or reject it and walk a life of solitude."
A hush fell.
The priest lifted his staff toward the moon. "Moon goddess, reveal our destiny."
The glow of the moon seemed to be brighter.
A cold wind blew across the square, carrying power with it. The torches flickered. The bonfire roared higher, as if answering a command from the sky.
Then it happened.
Silver light fell from the moon—soft at first, like drifting mist. Then it shimmered and spun, forming thin shining threads. These threads reached down toward each wolf, connecting from their hearts and stretching through the air to seek their mates.
A girl on the other side of the square gasped as a thread connected her to a boy nearby. The thread glowed bright white, then disappeared.
Their bond was accepted.
Another wolf shook his head in horror as his thread pointed to someone he did not choose. The thread turned gray and broke apart.
Rejection.
The square filled with cries of joy and cries of heartbreak as more threads appeared.
Elaine could not move. Her breath came shallow and shaking.
Then she saw it.
A thread formed at her chest.
But it was not silver.
It was gold.
The golden thread glowed brighter than fire, brighter than the moon itself. It looked alive, burning like light.
Gasps spread across the wolves.
"It's the golden thread."
"The prophecy!"
"It has begun."
Elaine's heartbeat thundered in her ears.
The golden thread did not drift to any wolf in the square. It stretched outward, past the crowd, past the bonfire, straight into the darkness..
A wind rose.
The ground trembled.
A dark shadow fog seemed to grow closer and closer, surrounding the celebration grounds, as the shadow thickened a scent of death came along with it—old, cold, and wrong.
Everyone was shaken by the odd occurrence. Muffles of confusion burst out as wolves took a pause from finding their mates into a state of shock and fear.
Emerging out of the shadows were warriors in dark armor like obsidian. Their eyes glowed faint red, as if lit from inside by dying embers. They made no sound as they walked.
Wolves stood from their seats. Warriors growled, the sound deep and ready for battle. Bones cracked as some shifted into their wolf forms.
Arthur stood, his voice carrying power. "Stand ready!"
Screams broke through the square. The Mooncrest warriors charged, but for every warrior that attacked, more dark warriors stepped from the fog, silent and terrifying. Some in their wolf forms and some in their human form.
Elaine sat frozen. The golden thread from her chest burned hotter, pulling her forward. She could not stop it. It yanked her heart toward the largest shadow now walking slowly through the fog.
He was tall—taller than any wolf she had ever seen. His presence pressed down on the air, making it hard to breathe. His face was hidden beneath shadow, but his aura was full of darkness, old as the beginning of time.
The thread connected to him.
The golden light ran straight into his chest and sank beneath his armor, into his heart.
Elaine's vision blurred. Her knees nearly gave way.
No. No, this cannot be real.
The figure stepped into the moonlight.
His eyes met her.
This was her mate? She questioned herself as the shock hit her.
The mate chosen by the moon goddess?
Her breath left her in a broken whisper.
"No… goddess, no!"